Postgraduate Publishing studies at Edinburgh Napier University. INDUSTRY APPROVED Publishing courses (accredited by the Professional Publishers Association and Creative Skillset). MSc Publishing was the first Publishing programme in the UK to be approved by the Professional Publishers Association. It is one of only two UK courses to be accredited by Creative Skillset. MSc Magazine Publishing is the only course of its kind in Scotland.

Olalla

New cover of Olalla

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Olalla
is now available!

Our postgrad Publishing students are proud to present a forgotten treasure by RL Stevenson! Ollala is now available via our imprint Merchiston Publishing – the publishing arm of the Scottish Centre for the Book based at Edinburgh Napier University.

Few know of Ollala, a vampire novella that precedes Bram Stoker’s Dracula. A new cover, specially commissioned illustrations, and glossary bring this important work to a wider, modern audience.

The books we produce here at Merchiston Publishing pay tribute to Scottish authors, with the aim of celebrating them and introducing their work to new and diverse readers.

Draft cover image by Jill Patterson

Olalla, written in 1885, tells the tale of a nameless British soldier who falls in love with the strange and alluring creature that is Olalla. Wounded and recovering in a Spanish hospital, our protagonist’s doctor recommends that he goes to stay with a noble family whose name has fallen into decline.

Little does he know that the family also hides a terrible secret. When he first lays his eyes on the daughter Olalla he falls desperately in love with her and she with him; all sanity and reason, on his part, are forgotten and he is consumed with love for her. Yet, as the events of his stay unfold, the family’s vampirism is exposed when the soldier brutally injures himself in a desperate act of passion towards her.

This dark and tragic novella, which precedes Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is one of love, loss and tragedy.

Our new edition will bring this forgotten novel – by one of Scotland’s most famous writers – to the forefront of literary attention, targeting both vampire fiction enthusiasts and English language students.

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